The present invention relates, generally, to the field of computer networks, and more specifically, to optimizing cloud computing through the use of edge computing.
Edge computing is a method of optimizing cloud computing systems by performing data processing at the edge of the network, near the originating source of the data. This reduces the communications bandwidth needed between end user computing devices and a central cloud data center (i.e. one or more cloud servers) by performing analytics and knowledge generation at or near the source of data. Through the use of edge computing, time sensitive data may be sent to an intermediary device, located in close geographical proximity to the originating source of data, whereas data that is less time sensitive may be sent to the cloud. Edge computing requires leveraging resources that may not be continuously connected to a network such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, and sensors.